To recap, my position has been that domestic cats should be kept indoors so they can't decimate populations of birds, lizards, etc. A few of you have disagreed and said, more or less, the cats are just doing their thing.

I have given your dissenting opinions considerable and respectful and thoughtful attention. Then I deleted them, because I didn't like them. Anyway, no more cat stuff for a while, OK? I'm sure we can find something else to carp about. Until then, here's today's question:

No, wait, I just got an e-mail from my masters concerning job openings under some new reorganization plan. They included an opening for an "IC mobile architect."

What do you suppose that is? I read the job description, and while I'm sure it is a dandy and important job, I was a bit hazy about what it meant. Say what you will about my masters -- and if it's vulgar be sure to send it to me -- but they're good at thinking up job titles.

Anyway, the question:

What exactly is a carpetbagger? I read a really risque book many years ago with this title, and nobody in the book had anything to do with carpets.

A carpetbag was a valise made of carpetlike cloth. A carpetbagger was an unscrupulous Northerner who went south after the Civil War to manipulate elections, buy up plantations cheap and generally be a jerk.